The Daily Jot: 2020-12-06

Tuesday, December 08, 2020

THIS JUST IN! KAMALA HARRIS BUILDING THE #ME TOO MOVEMENT ONE VICTIM AT A TIME!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL AID TABLE

ALLEGED RAPIST JOE BIDEN HAS NOMINATED XAVIER BECERRA FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY DRAWING ATTENTION TO A $400,000 SETTLEMENT THAT BECERRA OVERSAW BETWEEN THE SURVIVOR AND LARRY WALLACE WHO HAD "SERVED AS THE DIRECTOR OF THE CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT UNDER [KAMALA[ HARRIS." KAMALA REWARDED WALLACE BY TAKING HIM WITH HER TO THE SENATE AND SHE WOULD HAVE KEPT THE CRIMINAL WITH HER HAD THE PRESS NOT LEARNED OF IT IN 2018.

REACHED FOR COMMENT, KAMALA TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "DUDES! I GOT MY FIRST BIG JOB BY SLEEPING WITH WILLIE BROWN. SEX AND THE JOB GO HAND IN HAND! SO A WOMAN DIDN'T LIKE IT? WE PAID HER $400,000. STOP WHINING!"

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

The big Iraq news today? It's the Pope. CNN notes, "Pope Francis will travel to Iraq in March 2021, the Vatican press office announced on Monday." THE GUARDIAN adds, "The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said the pontiff, who turns 84 next week, would visit the capital, Baghdad, and Ur, a city linked to the Old Testament figure of Abraham, as well as Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh in the Nineveh plains, from 5-8 March. It will be his first trip in more than a year after all his overseas visits were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic." Francis became the Pope (and became Francis) March 13, 2013. He was born, in Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio and took the name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Prior to the pandemic outbreak, the Pope had visited many countries including Cuba, Israel, the United States, Bosnia, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. The visit to Iraq would be the Pope's first international visit in 15 months. Devin Watkins (VATICAN NEWS) explains:

The Pope’s visit will come as the realization of a dream of his predecessor, Pope St. John Paul II. The Polish Pope had planned to travel to Iraq at the end of 1999. That trip never came to be because after lengthly negotiations, Saddam Hussein postponed it.

According to Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Pope Francis will receive an enthusiastic welcome to Iraq.

He told SIR news agency a year ago that “everyone in Iraq, Christians and Muslims, esteem him[Pope Francis] for his simplicity and nearness. His words touch everyone’s hearts because they are those of a shepherd. He is a man who brings peace.”

ALJAZEERA offers:

President Barham Saleh had officially invited Pope Francis to visit Iraq in July 2019, hoping it would help the country “heal” after years of strife.

About 100,000 Christians are left in Iraq following sectarian warfare after the 2003 invasion led by the United States and ISIL’s (ISIS) sweep through one-third of the country in 2014.

If the visit takes place in March of next year, it will be the first visit of any Pope to Iraq, as Philip Pullella (REUTERS) notes. It's also noted in the following Tweet:

Pope Francis will be the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Iraq, where the number of Christians has dropped dramatically over the past two decades.

Pope plans historic Iraq trip in March 2021

Francis will be the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Iraq, where the number of Christians has dropped dramatically over the past two decades

Iraq's president Barham Salih Tweets:

His Holiness the Pope will visit Iraq in March 2021. The journey of Pope Francis to Mesopotamia- cradle of civilization, birthplace of Abraham, father of the faithful- will be a message of peace to Iraqis of all religions & serve to affirm our common values of justice & dignity

5:41 AM · Dec 7, 2020

Joshua J. McElwee (NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER) notes some reactions to the announced trip:

Catholic peace activists immediately praised Francis' choice to travel to Iraq.

Marie Dennis, the former long-time president of Pax Christi International, told NCR the trip is "a beautiful example of active nonviolence, a visible sign of stepping into violence in order to diminish its power and highlight the possibility of just peace."

Judy Coode, coordinator of Pax Christi's Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, highlighted the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on Iraqis. She said the country's healthcare system had been "decimated and overwhelmed" after years of war.

"Pope Francis' decision to visit Iraq calls our attention back to one of the most vulnerable communities on earth, a population terribly affected by Covid," said Coode. "He’s reminding us that the people of Iraq continue to struggle with a violent destabilization created by outside actors, including the United States."

His visit? It may take place. It's based on an improvement in the coronavirus cases -- counting on the numbers going down. If it takes place, it will come at a very needed time. UNAMI notes:

Reported COVID-19 cases across Iraq continue to rise but at a slightly lower rate than in previous weeks, with a regular average of 2,500 daily reported cases during November. In recent weeks, the Government of Iraq increased its testing capacity beyond 20,000 tests per day. Initial reports indicate that despite the increase in the number of tests, the daily number of COVID cases across the country is decreasing. The number of individuals who have contracted the virus as of 5 December stands at 564,200 cases, with over 62,000 additional cases in comparison to the last update. Close to 30 per cent of these cases have been detected in Baghdad, followed by Basrah, Erbil, Sulyimaniyah and Wassit Governorates, the infection rate is rising other governorates including Duhok. Similarly, the number of deaths has increased to a total of 12,432. The Government of Iraq (GoI) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have conducted over three and half million tests.

The conronavirus takes a toll on society as a whole. It makes up stressed, depressed and exhausted. Some consider suicide. In Iraq, the suicide rate had already increased a year before the pandemic outbreak. Zainab al-Mshat (DARAJ) reported last month:

The number of suicide cases across Iraq reached 549 in 2019 ... The reasons behind them are many, including simply, "the pain of life." This is mostly due to the economic deterioration, and high poverty and unemployment rates in the country.

Because she didn’t have the courage to set her body on fire, shoot a bullet through her temple, or wrap a noose around her neck, Sanaa (26 years old) chose to swallow a mixture of pills that she’d gathered from the medicine available in her home. Hours later, her sister heard her moan, a sound that escalated as her pain intensified, and she was subsequently transferred to the hospital for gastric lavage.

Sanaa escaped her death by suicide, without her family knowing why she had done it. Her brother, who is seven years older than her and now lives in Germany, knew why: When Sana was fifteen, he had sexually assaulted her. She was having a glass of water in the kitchen, and when she closed the refrigerator door, she found her brother standing behind her, thrusting his body onto hers, and forcing his hand onto her mouth to prevent her from screaming …

Sanaa failed to commit suicide and survived, whereas 132 other women had “succeeded” from the beginning of 2020 until September 20. Additionally, 169 male cases of suicide were also recorded, bringing the total to 301 suicide cases recorded by Iraq in nine months. Baghdad topped the list with 68 suicides, distributed between 40 female and 28 male cases.

In the Shula district, west of Baghdad, Abdul Rahman (30 years) was found hung by a rope in his house, which was not a residence that was “suitable for human life,” according to his mother’s words. His father, the breadwinner of the family, died when Abd al-Rahman was ten years old, so the boy took responsibility for the family at an early age: “My son was not reluctant to assume this responsibility, although he did often complain about it. His bad luck prevented him from getting employed at a government job that would have been dignified, despite the fact that he had obtained a bachelor’s degree from the College of Administration and Economics at the University of Baghdad.”